Convicted felon talks about his efforts to help convicts get a second chance

Convicted felon Sean Pica sat down with Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball on “Rising” to discuss how the nonprofit he runs helps provide current and former convicts with college education and support. 

Pica, who is the executive director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, spent 16 years in prison after he murdered his friend’s dad when he was a teenager. 

He said his passion for education was sparked when he began teaching other inmates to read and write. 

“I was going to a maximum security prison, and when I got there truly thinking my life was over, one of the officers came to my cell and asked me if I would consider helping the other men to learn to read and write,” Pica, who had not finished his own high school education at the time, said. 

He said that Hudson Link and the community in prison encouraged him to go back to school to get his high school diploma before leading the nonprofit.